High school student may face charges in nude photo incident

TNS Regional News
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May 8, 2014 at 7:07 PM

An 18-year-old Edgewood High School student could face criminal charges for a number of text messages authorities say he sent.

The Ashtabula County Sheriff’s Department is investigating the student after a nude photo of him surfaced several weeks ago. The photo was allegedly sent, via text message, to a 12-year-old female student at Willowick Middle School, according to the Sheriff’s report.

Three of the student’s classmates approached the school’s resource officer about the incident. The 12-year-old Willowick student is the step-sister of an Edgewood student, according to the report.

The girl was reportedly visiting her stepsister several weeks ago and told her about the photo. The sister recognized the male as one of her classmates, according to the report.

The student told officials her step-sister had little contact with the suspect other than through the cellphone app Instagram. The student reportedly sent the photo to one of her male classmates because she didn’t know what to do about the incident, according to the report.

The suspect was called into the principal’s office and questioned about the photo on April 29. He initially denied sending it and reportedly said he fell asleep at a party and his friend sent the photo to several people, according to the report.

After a short conversation with officials, he reportedly admitted to sending the photo. He told officials he was under the influence of “Spice (K2),” which he said was a type of marijuana, according to the report.

The suspect told officials he sent the photo to about 10 to 15 people, some of which he knew were minors. He provided officials with a list of names of some of the recipients of the photo, whose ages ranged from 12 to 18, according to the report.

The suspect’s cellphone was confiscated and the matter was turned over to the Ashtabula County Prosecutor’s Office for possible charges.